Armenia national football team head coach Yeghishe Melikyan has compared upcoming friendly opponents Moldova to the Cyprus national team.

“We needed this kind of match schedule because the fixture calendar during the autumn qualifying campaign will be similar. These friendly matches are a test for us to understand how prepared we will be for the UEFA Nations League qualifying stage,” Melikyan told reporters.

According to the head coach, his players are approaching the upcoming friendly against Moldova with a positive mindset.

“You will see newcomers on the pitch against Moldova. I understand that we need a victory, but we also have long-term objectives, and for that we need to conduct experiments now. I need these matches to better understand my players. Moldova have a similar playing style to Cyprus and Latvia,” Melikyan said.

Armenia’s national football team will host Moldova on June 9. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:00 p.m. Yerevan time.